When to be temperate: on the fitness benefits of lysis vs. lysogeny

ABSTRACT: Abstract Bacterial viruses, that is ‘bacteriophage’ or ‘phage’, can infect and lyse their bacterial hosts, releasing new viral progeny. In addition to the lytic pathway, certain bacteriophage (i.e. ‘temperate’ bacteriophage) can also initiate lysogeny, a latent mode of infection in which the viral genome is integrated into and replicated with the bacterial chromosome. Subsequently, the integrated viral genome, that is the ‘prophage’, can induce and restart the lytic pathway. Here, we explore the relationship among infection mode, ecological context, and viral fitness, in essence asking: when should viruses be temperate? To do so, we use network loop analysis to quantify fitness in terms of network paths through the life history of an infectious pathogen that start and end with infected cel

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PROVIDER: S-EPMC9532926 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature